“Hey,” Landon said. “Want a beer?”He already had one.
“No thanks. What are you up to?”
Landon pointed his chin toward the seating area. “I was going to sit over there and talk to my most attractive roommate.”
I grinned. “Funny, I was just about to do the same thing.”
Landon laughed as he padded past me. “That would be flattering except that I happen to know you have another roommate who looks just as good as I do.”
“Exactly as good.”
We sat on the sofa, shoulder to shoulder, and Landon spread a blanket over us. He always did that—maybe after he retired from the ski patrol, he could become a blanket attendant at a luxury resort like this one. But it was nice, being with someone so thoughtful.
Landon sipped his beer while I told him the story of Kai confronting Mr. Hartley, which he’d only heard a little about. I’d been in shock when it had happened, but now I could see the humor of it.
Landon shook his head, chuckling. “I’ve seen my brother hit on a lot of people, but never a horny old man.” Landon chuckled. “I’m actually surprised he didn’t swing first, ask questions later.”
“Me too, to be honest. But it still attracted a lot of attention. Everyone in the lobby saw it, and I know they reported it to Mrs. Greer.”
“So?” Landon took a big swig of his beer while I gaped up at him, shocked that he’d said that.
“This internship isvery important to me, and now she’ll think I’m extra disruptive or something and never give me a good report.”
“But was she going to before?” Landon asked gently.
“No,” I said glumly, because he had a point. “But Kai still shouldn’t have made a scene.”
“No, he shouldn’t have. But he was standing up for you, in his own Kai-like way.”
I rested my head on Landon’s shoulder, thinking about what he’d said.
“So no, I don’t think he ruined your chance of a decent and accurate report,” Landon continued.
“I guess not,” I said softly. Mrs. Greer had—or maybe I had, by not finding a way to get on her good side.
Landon was silent while he looked at the fire, but his muscles were tense. I could feel them as I leaned against him. “I spent a lot of the past year wishing that things were different, wishing that John and I had gone a different route that way, or that our timing had been better. But wishing that things were different doesn’t do any good. It just gets you stuck in a cycle, gets your mind trapped in a way you can’t get out.”
“Is that where you are?” I asked quietly.
“I was. For a long time. But maybe things are starting to get a little better now. Time helps.”
“So you’re saying that after I get a bad review, flunk my internship, and end upworking the night shift at a motel along the highway, I’ll feel better about it after enough time has passed?’
“Hell no.” The spirit in Landon’s voice took me by surprise. “No, you fight for what you’ve earned.”
What? “Fight Mrs. Greer?” If Kai had been tempted to punch anyone, I wish it had been her.
“Fight for your career. It’s like what all these seniors here say…. If one door closes, open a window. You’re brilliant, Zoe. I think that if you really tried, you could open any damn window you wanted.”
The sudden passion in his voice got to me. But still… I had to be realistic. “I think some of them are painted shut.”
“You’ve l got five months left before graduation. You can test out a lot of windows before then, and if none of them open? Then take a chainsaw and make your own. That’s what you did to get this internship in the first place, right? You fought for it. And you’re about to graduate from one of the most prestigious private colleges in the nation. You’re a fighter, Zoe. You’re a fighter and you’re brave.”
Warmth filled my chest as I thought about his words. Maybe therewassomething I could do. Not with Mrs. Greer. Landon was right, she wasn’t going to change her mind. But maybe if I thought hard enough, I might come up with something else that could help. Maybe. But it was daunting. “Some days I don’t feel very brave.”
Landon set his beer down on the coffee table, then turned to me, gripping my upper arms as he looked me in the eye. “You asked three men you barely knew to teach you how to have sex. That’s brave as fuck in my book.”
A smile threatened to burst across my face, and I wrestled with whether to hug him or kiss him. But then, I did neither. I laughed.
